New Survival Horror Game Announced by the creators of the acclaimed Penumbra series

Helsingborg, Sweden (September 19, 2008) – Frictional Games announces that they are hard at work with a new, currently untitled, horror game. The upcoming project is set in the late 18th century and will take the player on a thrill-ride through the depths of madness and explore the dark side of the human emotions. Frictional Games promises to deliver a truly frightening first person survival horror game.

The primary aim is to make the game as scary and atmospheric as possible. "There are plenty of ideas that we never realized in the Penumbra games. We think it is possible to go a lot further in terms of evoking unsettling feelings and a sense of dread in the player", says co-founder and sound designer Jens Nilsson. The atmosphere is not the only focus of the game though and Frictional Games is determined to deliver a solid gameplay experience.

"We intend to give players a lot of freedom in our upcoming game", explains Thomas Grip, co-founder and lead programmer at Frictional Games. "Instead of following a laid out route we want players to choose for themselves how they want to progress and how deep they want explore various aspects of the game world".

Though the project will have a large focus on freedom, story will not be neglected. Frictional Games have been hard at work to develop a multitude of new ways to tell a story and yet allow for a dynamic gameplay. The goal is to make the story and gameplay converge and create a truly engaging and unique experience.

Frictional GamesA small studio located in the south of Sweden, developing unique technologies to power their creative game ideas. Currently with a crew of four inhouse, with a network of contractors to utilise during production, enables the company to be dynamic and efficient. http://www.frictionalgames.com/

Penumbra SeriesPenumbra is a survival horror series that emphasises on puzzles, ambience and a unqie physics interaction system. Read more about the two games and the expansion by visiting the web site http://www.penumbragame.com/

Nordic Game ProgramThe currently untitled game project has received a 300 000 DKK support funding from the Nordic Game Program. To learn more about Nordic Game Program, visit http://www.nordicgameprogram.org/

Hmm, don't be afraid to make the game as scary as possible! I'm pretty sure very few people would rate the game as 'low' because they were scared to play it.

The free-play kind of worries me though. Frictional Games is a small company, barely non-indie. Creatinga free-roam style game takes a lot more work than to create a linear game with the same depth. If anything, a linear game allows a far deeper and longer-storyline because it takes less work to flow it together.

But, good pictures!
The names are funky too;
Ominious Thumping
The Castle Hallways
There Was Something